Attaching a ledger board

Ask
the
pros-February,
2005

By Reggie Bullard

Hi,
I
have
a question regarding attaching a ledger board to a stucco home. My wife
and I are looking at installing a deck but friends instructed us we
would
not be able to attach a ledger board to our stucco home. What is
required
to attach a ledger board to a stucco home and keep it leak proof?

I hope you can see what's going on. The plastic is to keep mortar from
splattering on the ledger and below.

Here is a picture I drew with Windows Paint. This idea was by the
superindent
for the builder. The two-by material provides temporary spacing for
the deck boards. We didn't have to wait for them to be put on first,
and
didn't have to worry about the deck being damaged. The space created by
the temporary masonite
spacer provides relief from building movement and deck movement
cracking
the stucco. The masonite also gave us a way to nail on our plastic,
securing
the plastic with masonite blocks.

An existing stucco house would require cutting and patching
the stucco.
Cutting a gap in the stucco for the flashing, and patching the lath
and stucco
to overlap the flashing.

Another view of the masonite spacers. We use casing beads to terminate
the
bottom